WAIMEA, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University men's golf team on Wednesday ended their season with a fourth-place finish at the Pacific West Conference Men's Golf Championships at the par-72 Mauna Lani Golf Course.
The Silverswords shot a final round 307, finishing with at 922, seven shots behind third-place Academy of Art. Their No. 4 finish is the highest at the PacWest Championships in program history.
The University of Hawai'i Hilo repeated as PacWest champions with an 898, winning by a convincing 14 strokes behind runner-up Hawai'i Pacific University. The Vulcans captured PacWest's automatic bid to the NCAA South Central/West Regional next month in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Ky Stopp (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson), who was tied with two others atop the individual leaderboard after 36 holes, endured a rough stretch in the front nine which dropped him out of contention. The freshman's final round 6-over-par 78 placed him seventh overall at 8-over 224. It is the highest individual finish by a Silversword in the conference championship since Michael Milton's ninth-place finish in the 2017 tournament.
UH Hilo's Nicholas Gomez captured individual medalist honors at 4-over 220, beating out HPU's Kyle Krupp by one shot.
Stopp, who was seeking to become the first Chaminade golfer to capture a PacWest title, struggled with three straight bogeys to finish the front nine, putting him at 6-over. Meanwhile, Gomez, who was tied with Stopp for the second-round lead, birdied 10 and 14, widening the gap between the two by five shots at the par-5 14th hole.
Jack Yeager (San Clemente, Calif./JSerra Catholic) finished 10th overall at 12-over 228 with a third round 1-over 73. His final round included an eagle on the par-5 15th, one of just three recorded in the championship.
Blake Buonopane (Rowley, Mass./St. John's Prep) shot a 4-over in his final 18, finishing with a 237.
Zachary DuBourdieu (Carlsbad, Calif./Sage Creek) shot an 81 in the third round to finish with a 240.
Ethan Alexander (New Rochelle, N.Y./Fordham Prep) shot a final round 80, giving him a total of 24.
